


Rory the bat cat.

by moomoo42



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Cat Person, Damian Wayne is Nightwing, Dick Grayson is Robin, Living on the streets, More tags later, Past Child Abuse, Tim Drake is Red Robin, bat brothers reverse ages, batfam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2019-08-10 19:44:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16460756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moomoo42/pseuds/moomoo42
Summary: Rory lives on the streets hiding his ears and tail from everyone. But everything changes after he meets Batman, when he’s adopted by the billionaire Bruce Wayne.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know much about Batman or the bat family. Most of what I know is from fan fiction so this won’t be very accurate. Sorry.

I should have learned my lesson by now. But I haven’t. I got attached to him. And look where that got me, locked in a cell with some kids and no idea what our captors want from us. If only I hadn’t met him. It started a few weeks ago.  
   
&&&  
   
A few weeks earlier.  
   
I’m so hungry. I haven’t eaten since that slice of bread yesterday morning. It’s getting late and I don’t want to look for food in the dark. I make my way into an ally that I found recently. It has easy access to a fire escape that leads to a wide flat roof and when I say easy access, I mean easy for me. I jump up onto a bin under the ladder at the bottom of the fire escape before jumping up pushing off the wall to grab the ladder and pull myself up. I climb up the ladder then the stairs until I reach the roof.  
   
Other then an entrance to the building that leads down to the lower floors in the middle of the roof, the roof is bare. I’m about to lie against the side of the entrance for the night when the door opens and a man walks out. I watch him as he blows into his hands trying to warm them. He has short light brown almost blond hair, a black coat, grey pants, glasses and a distinctive scar on his top lip. He looks around thirty years old, so around twenty years older than me. I try to sneak back to the fire escape, but it’s too late he’s seen me. We both freeze, me in fright and hm in confusion, but his look of confusion quickly vanishes, replaced with a smile.  
   
“Are you hungry?” he asks gently like he's talking to a small animal.  
   
“What?” I tilt my head to the side in confusion making some of my shoulder-length brown hair fall into my eye.  
   
“Wait here,” he chuckles, before running back through the door. I don’t know why, but I stay and wait for him, pushing my hair back behind my ears. After waiting for a few minutes he returns with a bottle of water and some bread with jam on a plate. He moves towards me and I step back away from him cautiously. He stops and puts the plate and bottle on the floor in front of him, before moving back to the door and leaning against it.  
   
“I’m Alex,” he says smiling. When I don’t say anything he continues. “And you are?”  
   
“… Rory,” I say devouring the bread, the sweet taste of the jam making my mouth water.  
   
“It’s nice to meet you, Rory.” I finish eating the bread and start to gulp down the water in silence. “You’re pretty quiet aren’t you.”  
   
I drain the bottle and look up at him.  
   
“Thank you,” I say quietly.  
   
“Do you have anywhere to sleep?” Alex asks while picking up the empty plate and bottle. In answer, I point to the ground next to him. “Here? It’s cold out here. Come inside you can sleep on my couch.”  
   
I shake my head. No way am I sleeping in a stranger's house.  
   
“Alright,” he says sighing. “At least let me bring you a blanket. I’ll be back.” He goes inside again coming back a few minutes later with a big blanket bundled up in his arms. He puts it down for me. “I come up here every night for a breath of fresh air, well as fresh as you can get in Gotham. I’ll make sure to bring some food with me in case we meet again. Goodnight.” He leaves for the night.  
   
I pick the blanket up and wrap it around me feeling its softness against my skin. I lie down against the entrance snuggling into the blanket before falling asleep.  
   
&&&  
   
The next morning.  
   
The sun rises above the horizon, waking me. I open my eyes and squint at the sudden light. I move my arm up to cover my eyes, which makes the blanket around my shoulders fall away before catching on my tail. That's bad, my tails out. I move my hand over the top of my head. My ears are out too. Falling asleep makes me lose concentration and that makes my ears and tail pop right out. I don’t know if I’m half cat or what, but when they’re out my senses are heightened and I’m a lot more agile. I know I got them from my mother, but when I found out about them she was killed, so everything I know about it I found out myself. Like I can turn into a cat. An actual cat! The first time it happened I freaked out when a little kid tried to pick me up.   
   
The sound of a car honking its horn interrupts my train of thought. I concentrate for a few seconds making my tail and cat ears disappear. Once they’ve gone I fold the blanket and put it down on the cleanest piece of ground I can see. Then I climb down the fire escape to the ally below. Once I’m on the ground I make my way towards a cafe that I normally go to get food. As I’m walking down the street I hear someone scream in an ally next to me. I try to convince myself to ignore it and fail immediately. I turn and walk silently into the ally.  
   
There are two men one wearing a cap holding a gun and one wearing a beanie and holding a knife. There is a girl standing in front of them going through her purse. The girl is pretty and petite with long brown wavy hair and hazelnut brown eyes.  
   
“Just give us the whole bag!” The man with the gun shouts getting impatient.  
   
I sneak up behind him, the girl sees me and I put my finger to my lips to silence her. She sees my motion and averts her eyes. I lift my leg up above the gun mans hand, before bringing it down on his wrist. The gun falls out of his grasp and clatters away. He turns to me holding his arm in pain, I lurch forward using all my strength to punch him in the stomach. He doubles over and stumbles backward, winded. If I wasn’t ten years old I probably could have knocked him out. His friend with the knife runs past him and comes straight at me, blade ready in front of him. He thrusts it at me and I jump to the side the knife nicking my shoulder. I grab his arm and pull him down towards me. Once he’s close enough I knee him in the face knocking him out. He falls to the floor in front of me, I think I’m finished but then I see that the gunman has recovered.  
   
“Run!” I shout to the girl. After giving me one last look, she bolts.  
   
While I’m distracted the first man dives for his gun. But I see what he’s doing so I jump towards him heel out in front of me, kicking him in the side of the head. He falls to the ground, limp. I sigh holding my bleeding shoulder tightly.  
   
“Thank you.” I swing around to see the girl I helped.  
   
“…It’s fine,” I say slowly, before turning to leave.  
   
“Wait…” I look at her questioningly while she rummages through her bag. “… Here.” She pulls out a handkerchief and hands it to me. “For your arm… And don’t worry it’s clean.”  
   
“Thanks,” I say taking the handkerchief and tying it around my arm using my free hand and my teeth while I walk away.  
   
“I’m Charlie,” he shouts after me.  
   
“Rory,” I say back before leaving.  
   
I continue my trek towards the cafe, my stomach grumbling. Once I reach the café, I casually walk past the tables out the front grabbing some leftovers off of them. I manage to grab a half-eaten piece of toast and sausage. Once I’m away from the café and out of sight, I eat the toast. The bread sucks up all the moisture left in my mouth, so I’m really thirsty. I sit down behind some boxes to eat the sausage. It’s delicious, I haven’t eaten meat in months. I eat it slowly savoring every juicy bite.   
   
&&&  
   
That evening.  
   
I’m making my way back towards the rooftop that I slept on last night, trying to decide if I should go see Alex again or not. I’m walking through Crime ally when I see a man in front of me with dark hair and wearing an expensive suit. I recognize him. He’s on TV all the time. He’s Bruce Wayne. I’m distracted by someone walking past me and towards him. It’s a man wearing all black including a jacket with a hood up over his head. There’s a bulge under his clothes on his hip. I realize it’s a gun a second too late as he has pulled it out and pointed it at Bruce.  
   
“Get ready to die Bruce Way…” I pick up a brick off the ground and hit him on the back of his head, knocking him out before he can finish his sentence.  
   
“You should call the police,” I say before turning and speed walking away. I hear him shouting for me to wait, so I start to run. I’m not paying attention to where I’m going, just running as fast as I can. After I’m sure he’s not following, I stop running. Instead, I bend over and rest my hands on my knees. I breathe deeply trying to catch my breath, but all that does is make my throat even dryer. I haven’t drunk anything since yesterday.  
   
When I look up I see that I’m back at the building Alex lives in. I didn’t mean to come back here, but I’m so thirsty and my stomach is rumbling. Before I can change my mind I jump up onto the fire escape and climb up to the roof. Alex is there waiting with food and water. He talks to me about random things while I eat until he gets tired and goes to bed. Once he’s gone to bed, I lie down and fall into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

It’s been a few weeks since I met Alex. He has been helping me out by feeding me every night and getting me a few small jobs so that I can buy myself the essentials to survive. We also talk a lot, I haven’t told him everything about myself, but he’s the first person I’ve trusted even a little bit for over a year. In all my time living on the streets I’ve never been this full.

 

I’m on my way to one of the jobs Alex has given me when I hear something down an ally next to me. Once again I am unable to ignore it. I turn into the ally and hide behind a dumpster. I peek around the edge just in time to see Nightwing duck under an oncoming punch. He’s surrounded by a gang of thugs, a few of them already lying still on the ground. He’s using a katana knocking guns and knives out of their hands before kicking them unconscious. I stand still watching. He’s amazing at fighting his blade catching light from the moon in the dark.

 

A few minutes later all of the thugs are out cold except for one, which he is kicking across the side of the head now. The thug falls to the floor. Nightwing sheaths his katana before he suddenly snaps his head towards my hiding place. I quickly move fully behind the dumpster. I wait for a few seconds and then pop my head back out, he’s gone.

 

I quickly look up just in time to see a shadow jump onto the roof. I’m staring in awe when I realize I’m going to be late for tonight’s job. Alex told me that it’s helping to move some boxes and that the money paid is pretty good. He said that he is going to meet me there. I take one last look towards the roof, seeing nothing I continue to make my way towards the warehouse Alex told me to go to. As I walk I pay more attention to rooftops to see if I can see any of batman’s other companions or even batman himself. But it seems I’ve used up all my luck on seeing Nightwing.

 

I make it to the warehouse without another event. I open a side door and walk inside. I freeze. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Alex is standing over a small girl with his foot pressed against the side of her head. She’s trembling and crying with bruises spread across her skin.

 

I gasp.

 

Alex turns hearing me.

 

“Rory, you’re early,” Alex snarls his usual kindness replaced by evil. “A shame I liked you. Grab him!”

 

Hands grasp my arms.

 

&&&

 

Batman

 

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that boy who helped me out three weeks ago. He looked around eight and was obviously homeless, his brown wavy hair reaching his shoulders and in dire need of a hair cut. He was wearing old dirty clothes that are too big for his small stature. When he told me to call the police, he had looked at me with emerald green eyes with gold speckled through them. I’m snapped out of my thoughts by dick walking up next to me from training with Damian.

 

“Do you know where they’re being kept yet?” he asks while taking a few deep breaths, tired from working out. Right now we’re looking for a human trafficking group who targets young children.

 

“I’ve narrowed it down to three warehouses around Gotham. We’ll have to split up,” I reply. Turning my chair away from the bat computer. “Nightwing you’ll take the third, red robin take the second and robin you’ll come with me to the first. Contact me if your warehouse is the right one.” Everyone nods and we split up.

 

I get into the driver's side of the batmobile, while robin gets in the passengers' seat. I speed out of the cave and make my way towards the first warehouse.

 

When we arrive, we get out of the batmobile and grapple up to the roof. We climb through a skylight and down on to the rafters. I look down below. There’s a lot of thugs one with glasses is putting his foot on the side of a little girl's head. I’m about to jump down when I hear a door open. I look towards the sound to see a small figure walk inside. The man stepping on the little girl looks up at the figure.

 

“Rory, you’re early,” the man snarls. “A shame I liked you. Grab him!”

 

Two thugs who snuck up behind Rory grab his arms. Rory struggles in their grip. They bring him forward into the light making my eyes widen. It’s the boy who helped me three weeks ago. I nod to Robin pointing towards Rory. Robin nods back and climbs across the rafters until he’s just above the area behind Rory. The man with glasses starts talking again.

 

“There’s no need to glare Rory. You’re going to…”

 

I give Robin the signal and we both jump down. I land in front of the man in glasses and kick him in the stomach sending him flying off the little girl. I hear Robin freeing the boy behind me and go back to taking out the thugs.

 

&&&

 

Rory

 

Hands grasp my arms. I struggle, but they’re too strong. The people holding me pull me forward towards Alex, I glare at him.

 

“There’s no need to glare Rory. You’re going to…” Alex stops speaking when a dark figure drops down in front of him and kicks him across the room. When he turns to take out some other thugs I see that it’s batman. I’m frozen staring until I feel my arms being released. I look back to see Robin standing over two thugs. Robin runs past me to help batman, so I run to the little girl Alex was stepping on.

 

“Come with me,” I say helping her up and taking her behind some boxes to hide. “What’s your name?”

 

“Pippa,” she says still shaking.

 

“Ok, Pippa. Stay here. I need to go see if there are any other kids here.”

 

“There are. Through there.” She says pointing towards the back of the warehouse.

 

I walk towards where she pointed away from batman and Robin. I hear someone crying so I go towards the sound, I open a door which the crying is behind. I step inside and shut the door behind me. I turn to see a bunch of children behind bars hunching in on themselves, shivering. I find some keys hanging on the wall and open the cage. I tell them to follow me and take them back to where Pippa is hiding. When I get back the police are here and batman and Robin are nowhere to be seen.


	3. Chapter 3

We leave as soon as the police arrive calling Nightwing and Red Robin to head back to the bat cave. By the time we get back to the cave the others are already here. I pull back my cowl, before moving over to the bat computer and looking up Rory now that I know his name. He’s a good kid. Not only did he help me, but he also helped the children in that warehouse. He also has this look in his eyes like he’s lost everything. He reminds me of myself when I was younger. He shouldn’t be left alone. Damian in his Nightwing costume comes up next to me.

“Oh no. I know that look.” I turn to him with a raised eyebrow. “I’ve only seen it three other times.”

“Where?” Dick asks him jumping in next to us with his mask now gone. Tim also steps closer looking intrigued.

“Where do you think? The last time I saw it was when he decided to adopt you, Dick,” he says pointing to Dick.

“You mean..” Dick starts. I tense slightly. When I decided to adopt Dick, Tim, Jason, and Damian had been against it. “I’m going to be a big brother?!” Dick says bouncing in excitement.

“Do you want to be?” I ask even though I already know the answer.

“Yes. Yes! YES!” Dick shouts excited.

“What about you two? Do you want another little brother?” I ask looking towards Damian and Tim. Dick turns towards them with his best puppy dog eyes.

“… Fine,” Tim says not being able to look away from Dick. “He can’t be any worse than Damian right?” surprisingly Damian doesn’t react to Tim’s comment. Instead, his expression is completely serious as he looks at me.

“Are you going to make him Robin?” he asks. I’m about to say that 'no I won’t' when he interrupts me. “And don’t say ‘of course I won’t put a kid in danger.’ Because that’s what you said for Tim and Dick.” He pauses for a second before adding. “And Jason.” Everyone looks down sadly.

“I’ll leave it up to him,” I say after a few seconds.

“Whatever,” he says before leaving.

“Are you still going to adopt him?” Dick asks still using his puppy dog eyes.

“Yes Dick,” I say, making him do a flip shouting.

“I’M GONNA BE A BIG BROTHER!” Suddenly he stops and says, “I need to tell Wally! UGH! But I also need to find out more about him. Wait! No. I need to set up a room for him.” While Tim tries and fails to calm him down, I go to get everything ready.

&&&

Rory

Finally, I’m alone. The last 24 hours have been non-stop movement, I haven’t had a break until now. It started with finding out the truth about Alex, then I was saved by Batman and Robin and then I spent the rest of the night at the police station until they decided to put me into the Blackwood orphanage. I spent the rest of today surrounded by loud annoying kids. Now I’m lying in the dark, on the top bunk, in a bunk bed in one of the bedrooms. The other bunk bed in this room is full, so there are three other kids sleeping in this room, with one of them snoring and one of them talking in their sleep. It would annoy me a lot more if I was actually trying to go to sleep, but I can’t. If I go to sleep my ears and tail will come out and everyone will know what I am. So that’s why I’m lying here, awake.

I don’t normally get to eat three meals a day, so I’m going to wait until tomorrow evening after I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner to sneak away. So until tomorrow, I have to stay awake and keep my secret. I continue to think about random things while trying to stay awake until the room is slightly lighter than before. I get up and climb off the bed as quietly as I can, so I don’t wake anyone up, before walking to the window, opening it and climbing out on to the roof. High places make me feel safe, I can see everything and no one ever looks up. I find a comfortable place above the window, sit down and watch the sunrise. It’s not as beautiful as it would be outside of Gotham, but it’s perfect for me.

I hear some people starting to wake up inside so I climb back in through the window and get back onto my bed so that it looks like I just woke up. It’s six o’clock when one of the people that work here comes into our room. It’s the owners' daughter Trish. She’s still wearing her pajamas her brown hair hanging over her hazel eyes. She works here for pocket money. I’ve only known her one day and I already don’t like her. She only works here for the money and barely does any work, making the kids do most of her jobs.

“Get up losers! It’s your rooms turn to cook breakfast!” she shouts before leaving, probably going back to bed. I hop off the bed, get dressed and walk downstairs, while everyone is still getting up. I get to the kitchen before everyone else and start to take out ingredients. The others get here yawning and tired. One of them with a black bowl cut steps forward.

“Hey, newbie. You cook or we’ll make living here hell for you,” he says, him and his friends looking smug. I ignore him rolling my eyes and start to make porridge. The others start talking about random stuff until we hear footsteps coming down the stairs. Bowl cut looks out the door before turning back to his friends.

“Its Mrs. Miranti pretend we’re cooking!” he whisper shouts. Mrs. Miranti is the orphanages' owner she has the same brown hair and eyes as her daughter. They all scramble to pretend to cook and clean. Mrs. Miranti comes in and seeing us all cooking she leaves. They all sigh in relief before going back to goofing off. I ignore them and move into the dining room to set the table that is long enough for seventeen kids, Mrs. Miranti and her daughter Trish, putting a large bowl of porridge in the middle. Once I’ve finished setting the table everyone is already downstairs ready for breakfast. We all sit down and start to serve ourselves porridge.

We’re almost finished eating when there’s a knock at the door. We all watch Mrs. Miranti go to answer the door, that we can see from the table. She opens the door to a tall figure with dark hair and blue eyes who smiles politely and shakes her hand while saying something that we can’t hear.

“It’s Bruce Wayne!” Trish whispers excitedly to everyone at the table.

My eyes widen. Its Bruce Wayne, the man I helped with someone trying to shoot him a few weeks ago. It has to be a coincidence… right? Mrs. Miranti takes him into her office. While everyone else around the table is whispering and giggling about what just happened, I try to ignore the thoughts whirling around in my head by quickly finishing the last of my porridge. By the time Mrs. Miranti and Bruce come out everyone has put their empty bowls in the kitchen and are waiting to be dismissed. They come out of the office and I swear Bruce looks at me before he leaves.

“Everyone’s dismissed! Except for Rory, I need to see you in my office.” I nod and move in the opposite direction than everyone else towards the office. When I step inside Mrs. Miranti is waiting.

“Rory. Mr. Wayne was just here to talk about adoption,” she says. “Yours actually.” I just stare at her frozen until I manage to snap out of my shocked state.

“A… Adopt me?” I manage to ask my voice quivering.

“Yes. Adopt you. He’ll be coming with his butler to pick you up tonight after dinner. Until then you need to get everything ready to go,” she explains swiftly. I just nod numbly. “Well go on then,” she says pushing me out the door.

I go up to my room not sure what to do. I was planning to leave tonight, but that was before all this happened. I wasn’t expecting someone to want to adopt me, especially not Bruce Wayne. If I go with him I’d get fed three meals a day every day, I’d get to go to school, sleep in warmth… but I can’t. Is it worth it to risk him finding out my secret? Who knows what he would do if he knew I was part cat. I could always run away if he did find out.

I start to pack the few items I had been given like some clothes and a toothbrush. Either way, I’m leaving tonight so I may as well pack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapters a bit shorter.

I’ve just stopped trying to do work in my study. I can’t stop thinking about Rory who I’m picking up tonight. I was planning to wait a while before I bring him home, but then I saw him and as an, in the moment decision I said that I would pick him up tonight. I need to try to convince Damian and Tim to at least try to get along with him before I bring him home. I walk down into the front room to see Damian sitting on the couch watching Tim try to calm Dick down who is running around and flipping off the walls shouting about being a big brother. When I take another step they all stop and look at me.

“Sit down. We need to talk,” I say. Tim sits down on the same couch as Damian while Dick gets comfy on a one-seater. “I’m bringing Rory home tonight.”

I watch their reactions. Damian looks like I just slapped him with a fish, Tim is raising a single eyebrow like he can see right through me and Dick looks like he’s trying to decide whether he should be excited or nervous.

“You’re bringing him here today?” Damian finally asks his expression going back to its usual glare.

“Yes.”

“Whatever,” he sighs standing up to leave.

Before he can go I say, “I want you all to be here to meet him.” Damian just rolls his eyes and continues to walk.

“Do you think he’ll like me?” Dick suddenly blurts out. “What if he doesn’t? Oh no. He’s going to hate me.” Tim awkwardly puts his hand on Dick's shoulder.

“Its ok Dick. You’ll be a great big brother.”

“Thanks, Tim.”

“I need to go pick him up,” I say making Dick look at me wide-eyed.

“NOW?! But I need to get ready! I need to have a shower and choose an outfit and…”

“Dick. This isn’t a date,” Tim says with a sigh.

“But I don’t want him to think I smell or have a bad sense of fashion!” I leave while they continue to talk. Alfred is waiting out the front with the car. I get in and we drive away.

Alfred drops me in front of Blackwood orphanage. I walk up to the front door and knock. A girl who looks around eighteen with brown hair and eyes answers looking annoyed. As soon as she sees me she gasps.

“Bru… Mr. Wayne.” She stutters out.

“Just Bruce is fine. I’m here for Rory. Is Mrs. Miranti here?” I ask, putting on my billionaire playboy smile.

“She’s through here. I’ll show you.” She says leading me inside. She leads me into the dining room where Mrs. Miranti is putting a bandaid on a crying girl's knee.

“Mrs. Miranti?”

“Oh, Mr. Wayne. You’re here for Rory, right? Last time I saw him he was heading up to his room. I’ll go get him,” she says starting to get up.

“No need. You’re busy. I can get him,” I say. She nods thankfully.

“He’s in the first room on the left at the top of the stairs,” she says. I nod and make my way up.

I turn to the first door on the left and knock. It’s silent until I here a small, “come in.” I open the door to see Rory looking at me with his head tilted down shyly and holding a plastic bag.

“Hello, Rory. I’m Bruce Wayne and I’m here to… well… adopt you,” I say awkwardly.

“Hello, Mr. Wayne,” he replies still shy but looking me dead in the eyes.

“Call me Bruce. Well, are you ready to go?” He nods slowly and follows me downstairs. We say goodbye to Mrs. Miranti and make our way outside. Alfred is waiting by the car. “Rory. This is Alfred, my butler.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Rory says with a shy smile.

“It’s nice to meet you to master Rory.” I can tell from the look on Alfred's face that he already loves Rory. Alfred opens the door letting Rory and me in before getting into the driver's seat and heading for home.

&&&

Rory

I’m sitting on my bed next to a plastic bag holding the few items I own, waiting for Bruce Wayne to come to pick me up. I decided to at least try being adopted and if something goes wrong I can just run away. My stomach is filled with butterflies and my mind is going wild. What if Bruce regrets adopting me? And I heard he has sons, what if they hate me? I’m interrupted by a knock at the door. I grab my bag and hop off the bed taking a deep breath before saying, “come in.” the door opens and I lower my head worried. It’s Bruce, he steps inside and I look at him in his blue eyes.

“Hello, Rory. I’m Bruce Wayne and I’m here to… well… adopt you,” he says smiling kindly.

“Hello, Mr. Wayne,” I manage to say still feeling nervous.

“Call me Bruce. Well, are you ready to go?” I nod and he turns and starts walking down the stairs, I follow him my heart beating at a hundred miles an hour. We say goodbye to Mrs. Miranti and walk outside. There’s a really expensive black car parked in front of the orphanage with a man in a suit with grey hair and mustache. “Rory. This is Alfred, my butler.” I normally don’t smile at strangers, but I can’t help it with Alfred.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say with a small smile.

“It’s nice to meet you to master Rory,” he says politely smiling back at me. Alfred opens the door letting Bruce and me inside. I sit down and put my seat belt on, Bruce sits next to me. Once we start moving Bruce begins to talk.

“I have three sons who will be there to meet you when we get home,” he starts. “There’s the oldest Damian. If he glares at you or ignores you, don’t worry about it he acts that way with everyone. Next is Timothy or Tim, he’s very smart and not very good with emotions, but he’s a good guy. The youngest is Richard, but he likes to be called Dick. When I told him I was adopting you he was so excited that he’s going to be a big brother.” I nod looking out the window. He sighs and stops talking. My stomach is all over the place I’m so nervous. Bruce said that Dick is excited, but what if I’m not what he expects? What if he’s disappointed?

I somehow get even more nervous when I see the mansion coming closer. We pull up to the house and I take a few deep breaths to calm myself. I’m about to open the car door when it opens without me touching it. I look up to see Alfred holding it open for me. I step out and follow Bruce to the front door. Alfred steps forward to open the door. I take a step back scared. I can’t do this. They’ll hate me. Or they’ll find out about my cat side and send me somewhere to get experimented on or something. I feel a hand on my back. I look over to see Bruce smiling encouragingly at me.

“Are you ready?” he asks. I take a deep breath before nodding. His smile widens and he leads me inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

He leads me inside. I see three people sitting on a couch, the one that looks the youngest is looking at me while fidgeting, I’m guessing he’s Dick. The second person that looks like the oldest is glaring at Bruce and me he’s probably Damian. The last one glances up from his phone with a raised eyebrow he must be Tim.

“Rory this is Dick, Tim, and Damian,” Bruce says confirming my theory.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say trying my best not to sound scared.

“I met him. Now I’m leaving,” Damian says standing up and walking away ignoring Bruce’s calls for him to wait.

“It was nice meeting you now I need to go study,” Tim says following Damian. I knew it. They hate me. I sigh looking down at my feet when someone taps my shoulder. I look up to see Dick smiling brightly at me.

“Hi, I’m your new big brother! Your room will be next to mine so you can come knock on my door if you need anything. Come on I’ll show you.” By the end of him talking he’s dragging me up the stairs.

“Dick! Wait.” Dick stops and looks back at Bruce. “Bring him back down for dinner in an hour and let him borrow some of your clothes until we get him some.”

“Ok!” Dick shouts dragging me again. After walking for a while I’m completely lost, but Dick just continues on chatting happily. “You’re probably going to the same school as me so we can hang out at lunch and you can meet all my friends. What’s your favorite subject at school?”

“I didn’t go to school,” I say looking around me. The mansion is huge!

“Oh… um… Well, what subject do you like the idea of?” he asks looking a little sheepish.

I hesitate for a second before saying. “…Maybe music?”

“Music?”

“I… like to sing.” I get ready for him to laugh.

“Really? Cool! I wish I could sing. You’ll have to sing to me later, but for now, we’re at your room. I’ll leave some clothes outside your door. I’ll be back in an hour to take you to dinner. If you need anything I’ll be in there,” he finishes pointing to the door next to mine. I nod and move into my own room. As soon as the door closes I sigh and slump to the floor. I stay sitting taking deep breaths for a few minutes until I hear someone knock on my door.

I stand up and take a few steps away. Something touches my leg so I look down and see my tail. I quickly concentrate until they disappear before saying, “come in.” There’s silence for a few seconds but then the door opens to Tim.

“Hey, Rory. I was… well, I was wondering if you needed any help unpacking?” he asks awkwardly.

“I don’t have much to unpack,” I say holding up the plastic bag holding all of my belongings.

“Oh… Ok. I’ll see you at dinner then,” he says rubbing the back of his neck,  before turning to leave.

“Wait…” I say stopping him. “Thanks for offering.”

He gives me an awkward smile before leaving shutting the door behind him. I guess it’s only Damian who hates me. At least Tim and Dick seem to not mind me being here, Dick might even like me.

I finally take a good look around. My room is huge with a king-sized bed, a desk, a mostly empty bookshelf, and some drawers. There are also two doors not including the one I came through. The first one I open is a walk-in wardrobe with no clothes. The second door leads to a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower. I look down at myself. I need a shower. I walk back into my room and open the door that leads to the hall. The clothes are there on the floor just like Dick said they would be. I bring them back into the bathroom and put them aside so that I can take a shower. I quickly hop in, it feels amazing the water is so warm and heals aches in my body I didn’t even realize I had.

I stay in there for about ten minutes cleaning my hair and body. The water washes my nervousness and doubts away until the second I step out which makes all of them come right back. I sigh drying and getting dressed in the clothes Dick loaned me. It’s a pair of blue jeans and a faded purple shirt. There’s still some time until dinner so I grab a random book to read and sit on my bed.

Sometime later.

Knock knock knock.

I close the book I’m reading and put it back on the shelf before opening my door to see Dick.

“Hey, Rory. I’m here to show you to dinner,” he says cheerfully.

I nod and follow him out into the hall. I’m feeling a lot calmer after reading for a while. We walk through the halls while I listen to Dick talk about random stuff. Dick stops talking when we hear arguing in the dining room.

I freeze when I hear Damian shout, “you shouldn’t have adopted him, Bruce!”

Before Dick can stop me I run. I knew I shouldn’t have come here. They don’t want me. I run through the halls using my cat agility so the others don’t catch up with me trying to find a way out. I finally find a side exit and try to open it but it’s locked.

“Rory!” I hear someone shout in the distance.

I look around for somewhere else to go, there are some stairs next to me that I quickly run up to get away from the voice. I go through the first door I see and run to the window opening it as wide as it will go before climbing out onto the window sill. I stand and pull myself up onto the roof. I find a comfortable place that will make sure I don’t fall and sit down. I take a few deep breaths as tears trickle down my cheeks. I don’t know why I’m so attached to them, I’ve only been here for an hour and I already don’t want to leave. I silently cry with thoughts of the people who could have been my new family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you want Rory to have bonding time with in the next chapter?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

I can barely hear Tim trying to calm me down while I’m running around and flipping off the walls shouting some nonsense about being a big brother. I stop when I sense someone behind us. We all look to see Bruce standing in the doorway.

“Sit down. We need to talk,” he says. Tim sits down on the same couch as Damian while I get comfy on a one seater. “I’m bringing Rory home tonight.”

I can’t believe it. He’s coming home today? I finally get to meet him! it is pretty sudden. But I’ll be a great big brother. Or maybe I won’t. Ugh, I don’t know! I vaguely hear Damian and Bruce talking but I’m too busy with my inner debate. After a while, I can’t take it anymore.

“Do you think he’ll like me?” I blurt out. “What if he doesn’t? Oh no. He’s going to hate me.” Tim awkwardly puts his hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me.

“Its ok Dick. You’ll be a great big brother,” he says

“Thanks, Tim.”

“I need to go pick him up,” Bruce suddenly says making my eyes go wide.

“NOW?! But I need to get ready! I need to have a shower and choose an outfit and…”

“Dick. This isn’t a date,” Tim says sighing.

“But I don’t want him to think I smell or have a bad sense of fashion! I have to be a good brother.”

“And you will be. Don’t worry about it,” he says giving my shoulder a squeeze. “But aren’t you supposed to be getting ready?”

“Oh yeah!” I shout jumping up off the couch and running up the stairs and through the halls until I reach my room. I quickly strip and jump in the shower. I hop out after around five minutes. I put a towel around my waist before opening my closet and stepping inside. I look through all of my clothes over and over again but can’t choose anything. I finally find my nicest pair of blue jeans when I’m interrupted by a knock at my door. I step out of my closet and shout, “come in!”

The door opens and Tim peaks inside. “Bruce says he’ll be back in about ten minutes and that he wants us all downstairs to meet Rory.”

“Ten minutes?!” I run back into the closet and grab a plain white shirt. I quickly put the clothes I’ve chosen on and run back into the bathroom. I see Tim roll his eyes before leaving. I move in front of the mirror and spend a few minutes styling my hair. I step back and take a look at myself. It’ll have to do. I speed walk downstairs to find Tim and Damian sitting on opposite sides of a couch with Tim on his phone. I flip over the back of it and land in between them. I feel myself shaking with excitement and nervousness.

“You ok?” I hear Tim ask next to me.

I just hum in reply making him sigh. I feel Damian put his hand on my shoulder and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, smiling at him. My breath hitches again when I hear a car pull up out front. I take some deep breathes while listening to them getting out of the car and walking up to the front door.

I start to fidget as I hear the handle rattle before the door opens to Alfred followed by Bruce. Rory steps out from behind Bruce looking shyly around the room. Last time I saw him it was dark so I take a good look at him. He looks around eight his brown wavy hair slightly shorter than before thanks to Bruce getting him a haircut. He has emerald green eyes with gold speckled through them. He’s wearing a faded green shirt and some black pants and some warn out sneakers.

“Rory this is Dick, Tim, and Damian,” Bruce says making me look at him.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Rory says looking like he’s trying his best to be brave.

“I met him. Now I’m leaving,” Damian says standing up and walking away. I give his back a disapproving look.

“Damian,” Bruce calls. Damian ignores him and continues to walk.

“It was nice meeting you now I need to go study,” Tim says following Damian. I see Rory looking down and sighing. I hop up and walk up to him smiling brightly and tap his shoulder.

“Hi, I’m your new big brother! Your room will be next to mine so you can come knock on my door if you need anything. Come on I’ll show you,” I say trying to make him feel better while I pull him upstairs.

“Dick! Wait.” I stop and look back at Bruce. “Bring him back down for dinner in an hour and let him borrow some of your clothes until we can take him shopping tomorrow.”

“Ok!” I shout pulling Rory again. “I was really excited about you coming, I’ve been the youngest for ages so I can’t wait to be a big brother. We can do lots of fun stuff together like maybe we could play a sport, or I could help you with your homework. You’re probably going to the same school as me so we can hang out at lunch and you can meet all my friends. What’s your favorite subject at school?” I ask while we continue to walk.

“I didn’t go to school,” he says looking around amazed.

“Oh… um… Well, what subject do you like the idea of?” I ask feeling a little sheepish.

He looks like he’s thinking for a few seconds before he says shyly, “…maybe music?”

“Music?” I ask. That’s awesome.

“I… like to sing,” he says avoiding my gaze.

“Really? Cool! I wish I could sing. You’ll have to sing to me later, but for now, we’re at your room. I’ll leave some clothes outside your door. I’ll be back in an hour to take you to dinner. If you need anything I’ll be in there,” I finish pointing to my bedroom door. He nods before going into his own room and closing the door. I walk into my own room smiling and taking out my phone. I set an alarm for an hour. Once the alarm’s set I sit at my desk and open my laptop. While I wait for dinnertime I work on some homework I haven’t finished smiling the whole time thinking of my new adorable little brother.

&&&

I step up and knock on Rory’s door.

The door opens to Rory looking a lot calmer than earlier.

“Hey, Rory. I’m here to show you to dinner,” I say holding back from hugging him.

He nods and follows me out into the hall. I start to talk about random stuff while we walk, Rory just listens while following me quietly. I stop talking when we hear arguing in the dining room.

I feel Rory freeze next to me when Damian shouts, “you shouldn’t have adopted him, Bruce!”

Suddenly Rory runs.

“You idiot! Rory heard you! I’m going to go find him,” I shout at Damian. I turn and run after Rory missing Damian’s guilty look.

I start running through the halls looking for Rory and calling his name but I can’t find him anywhere. I occasionally bump into the others who are also looking for Rory. I glare at Damian every time I pass him.

I stop in a room with a wide-open window and think. If I was upset and wanted to get away I’d look for somewhere high and there’s nowhere higher then the roof. I climb out the window and pull myself onto the roof. I see Rory rolled up in a ball with his head against his knees and his shoulders shaking.

“Rory?” I say in a soft voice. He jumps and looks up at me with wide eyes showing his tear-stained cheeks. “Damian didn’t mean what he said and even if he did screw him. I want you here and so does Bruce, otherwise he wouldn’t have adopted you.”

“… Really?” he asks in a small voice. I sit down next to him and put my arm around his shoulder.

“Really.” He wipes away his tears and gives me a small smile before he leans against my shoulder. I wait for a few minutes until he falls asleep before picking him up and bringing him inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day! I’m doing pretty good.

I’m sitting in the dining room with Damian in silence waiting for the others to come for dinner. I’m sending emails on my phone trying to ignore Damian glaring at me. I continue on my phone for a few minutes before sighing.

 

“What?” I ask.

 

“Are you going to tell Rory about our night job?” He asks still glaring.

 

“Not yet but I will tell him eventually.”

 

“Are you planning on making him Robin?” he asks. I’m about to reply that no I won't when he interrupts me, “and don’t say no. You said no about Tim, Jason, and Dick and they all became Robin.”

 

I sigh again and put my phone down on the table. “I’ll let him decide when he finds out about us.”

 

“You’re going to put him in danger just by having him here.”

 

“I’ll protect him,” I say sternly starting to get frustrated.

 

“Like you protected Jason?”

 

“Damian,” I say in a warning tone.

 

“No, he’ll be in danger now because of you. You shouldn’t have adopted him, Bruce!”

 

We both stop when we hear the sound of running out in the hall.

 

“You idiot! Rory heard you! I’m going to go find him,” Dick shouts sticking his head around the corner before running off. I see Damian looking at where Dick was, looking guilty.

 

“You start looking, I’ll go find Tim,” I say snapping Damian out of his guilt, his expression turning to his usual neutral mask.

 

“Find me for what?” I turn to see Tim standing at the entrance to the dining room.

 

“Rory overheard Damian tell me that I never should have adopted him which made him runoff. We need to go find him. Dick’s already looking.” Tim nods before running off, looking worried. Damian walks out after him followed by me. We all split up to search. I look in all the places the others have hidden before, but can’t find him anywhere. I’m interrupted from searching by my phone dinging.

 

Dick

‘Found him. He’s asleep. Bringing him to his room.’

 

Me

‘I’m on my way.’

 

I turn around and start walking towards Rory’s room when I see Dick making his way there as well.

 

“How is he?” I ask walking next to him.

 

“I found him on the roof crying. He thought we didn’t want him.” I sigh before getting distracted when something catches my eye.

 

“What’s that?” I ask pointing at the top of Rory’s head.

 

"What’s, wha…” he stops with a gasp when he sees what I saw. On top of Rory’s head are cat ears. They’re too realistic to be fake and now that I look closer I can see a tail swaying behind him. They’re both fluffy and the same color as his hair. “What the hell?”

 

We reach his room and I open the door for Dick who is still staring at the ears in confusion.

 

“Put him on the bed, we’ll talk to him about this tomorrow.” Dick nods and places Rory on his bed making him curl into a ball like a cat. Dick moves a chair from Rory’s desk and sits on it next to his bed. I send a text to Tim and Damian to meet me in Rory’s room. Once they get here I explain what happened. Tim looks relieved and Damian looks apologetic. Suddenly Rory starts to mumble and whimper making us all run to his side.

 

“No. Dad! Please don’t!” He cries, tears running down his cheeks and his tail flicking behind him. Before shouting, “Mum!”

 

&&&

I’m sitting at the table in the kitchen watching mum cook when I hear dad get home. He comes into the kitchen wobbling slightly and smelling strongly of alcohol.

 

“Honey, you’re home,” Mum says nervously.

 

“What’s for dinner?” he slurs, drunk.

 

“Mashed potato and fish,” she says carefully.

 

“Fish?” he spits, making me and mum jump. “I told you I wanted meat.”

 

“We didn’t have the money,” she rushes to explain, only to stops when he slaps her hard across the face.

 

“Mum!” I shout.

 

“You bought Rory something again didn’t you?” she whimpers and looks away making Dad growl and grab her by her hair. He pulls her up and goes to hit her again. My vision goes red. I feel tingling on my head and lower back, in the reflection in a window I see cat ears replace my human ones and a tail sway behind me. I ignore them for now and jump in between my Mum and Dad and hiss making my Dad let go of her hair. I hear my Mum gasp behind me. “What are these?” he growls grabbing one of my new cat ears and using it to throw me across the room.

“Rory!” I hear mum shout.

“You’re a freak!” Dad shouts grabbing a kitchen knife from where Mum was cooking. “A monster! I’ll do the world a favor and get rid of you.” He starts walking towards me, the knife out in front of him.

“No. Dad! Please don’t!” I cry as tears run down my cheeks. He brandishes his knife ready to strike me. I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for pain when I hear someone cry out in front of me. I slowly open my eyes to see my Dad with wide eyes staring down at my Mums limp body with blood pooling under her. “Mum!”

I wake up not knowing where I am. Is Dad here? I feel arms around me and hear a voice telling me to calm down. I look up through tear-filled eyes to see Bruce holding me to his chest and stroking my hair.

“Bruce?” I say in a small voice.

“It’s ok Rory. I’m right here,” he says softly.

“Rory,” I hear someone say behind me. I turn around, when I see Damian I flinch remembering what he said earlier, he grimaces slightly. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

I give him a small nod before leaning back against Bruce.

“Rory.” I look up at him. “I need you to explain your ears and tail.”

I jump back out of his arms and push myself against the bed frame with my ears flattened against my head before whimpering, “please don’t hurt me.”

“I won’t hurt you, Rory. I don’t mind that you have cat ears and a tail I just want to know why.”

I stop whimpering and peek up at him.

“I don’t know. One day when I was four my Dad was hurting my Mum and I wanted to protect her, when suddenly I had cat ears and a tail.” I feel Damian put his arm around me as I continue to explain. “When he saw my ears and tail he… he got a knife. He said he was going to kill me. Mum… She tried to protect me… She…” I break down in tears, leaning into Damian’s touch.

“Get some sleep,” Bruce says while picking me up and placing me on his lap. Tim sits on the other side of me and Dick lies across our laps. I fall asleep surrounded by my new family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you want Rory to spend more time with.


	8. Chapter 8

I wake up tangled in limbs. I slowly open my eyes to see my new family lying in different positions around me, Dick on top of everyone in what looks like a really uncomfortable position.

 

“Morning Rory.”

 

“Morning Bruce,” I say in a rough voice from crying.

 

“We’ll get up so you can get ready,” Bruce says smiling. “Come on boys, it’s time to get up.”

 

They all groan, before slowly making their way off the bed and out of my room. They all give me a comforting look (and in Dicks' case a hug) on their way out. As soon as they shut the door, I sigh and flop back onto the bed. They let me stay. Even when they knew the truth they still let me stay. I smile spreads across my face while I stand and walk to my wardrobe. I open it expecting some of Dick’s hand me downs, but instead, it’s filled with lots of expensive-looking clothes. I grab some black jeans and look through my shirts. I look confused. There is a Robin shirt, a Nightwing shirt, a Red Robin shirt, and a Batman shirt. It’s hard to decide between Nightwing and Robin. Robins acrobatics are amazing and he’s good at cheering up the victims a little. But Nightwings fighting style is so elegant with or without his katana and his costume is really cool. My mind made up when I see a Robin jacket. I’ve just put the Nightwing shirt and Robin jacket on when I hear a knock at my door.

 

“Who is it?” I call out.

 

“It’s Dick. I’m here to show you to breakfast.” Dick answers through the door.

 

“Come in!” I call back.

 

He opens the door and seeing what I’m wearing, he smiles brightly. I decide to ignore that and follow him down to the dining room. We walk into an amazing looking breakfast. There’s toast, pancakes, fruit, bacon, eggs and more. Dick shows me where to sit so that I’m between him and Bruce. Everyone reacts differently to my clothes Bruce seems to not care, Tim looks a little disappointed, Damian smirks a little and Dick looks proud for some reason. I decide to ignore their weird reactions and start to eat.

 

“This is delicious,” I say with a small smile.

 

“Thank you, Master Rory,” Alfred says from behind me. I’m really proud of myself that I didn’t jump.

 

“I need to get to work,” Bruce says standing from the table. “Dick, Tim you two need to finish getting ready for school, and we all need to talk about what happened last night when I get home.”

 

“Uh-huh,” the others say, while my chest tightens in worry.

 

“Damian, stay with Rory. Show him around the house,” he continues, before leaving with Dick and Tim.

 

“Is there anything you want to do?” Damian asks after a few minutes of silence.

 

“I don’t mind,” I reply. We sit there awkwardly for a few more minutes.

 

“Do you like swords?”

 

&&&

 

Alfred is driving me home from work and we’re almost at the manor. I’ve been worrying all day. What was I thinking, leaving Rory with Damian? I was tired and I wasn’t thinking straight. Damian didn’t want another little brother in the first place, at best he would ignore him all day. At worst… I don’t want to think about that. We pull up at the manor and Alfred opens the door for me. I speed walk towards the front door until I hear clanging coming from around the side of the house. I turn towards the noise and silently, but quickly move towards it. I round the corner to a sight I was not expecting. Damian and Rory are sword fighting. Damian’s obviously better, but Rory isn’t doing too badly. That's when I realize his ears and tail are out.

 

“What are you two doing?” They both stop Rory freezing solid.

 

“Swords,” Damian says like that explains everything. I sigh.

 

“Put them away, they’re dangerous,” is all I say in reply.

 

They comply, but they don’t look happy about it.

 

&&&

 

I’m sad when Bruce tells us to put the swords away, but I don’t argue.

 

“Here I’ll take them.” I nod and hand Damian my sword.

   
“I’ll go have a shower,” I say.

 

"Come downstairs when you're done, we need to have that talk," Bruce says. I nod, before making my way inside and into the bathroom off of my bedroom hiding my ears and tail as I walk.

 

I take a quick shower and get dressed. My stomach growls in hunger. maybe Alfreds made some cookies. I start walking downstairs somehow not getting lost and making it to the front room where I find everyone waiting.

 

"Take a seat," Bruce says. Dick starts patting the space next to him even though he's on a one-seater. I sit next to him and am surprised when he puts his arm around me in a half hug.

 

"You can let your ears and tail out if you want," he says. I nod and let good my control letting them come out. Dick looks at them amazed.

 

"Ok. some ground rules for your ears and tail," Bruce starts making me look up at him nervously. "You can leave them out around all of us, but others might not accept them as easily as us so if any guests are over or if you go out it will be best if you hide them."

 

I nod in understanding.

 

"Good. Welcome to the family Rory." 

**Author's Note:**

> Comment what you think.


End file.
